Weevils to Open Conference Play

Paul Smith
Sports Information Director

University of Arkansas at Monticello head football coach Gwaine Mathews will look for his Boll Weevils to put its first two games of the season behind them as they open Gulf South Conference play this Saturday against the Ouachita Baptist University Tigers at A.U. Williams Field in Arkadelphia.

“For us right now, Saturday is really the first game of the season,” said Mathews. “No disrespect intended to either Southern Arkansas or Sam Houston State, but this is the start of our conference schedule. This is where we can not afford to make the mistakes we’ve made. Our season starts Saturday and we’re ready to roll.”

Saturday’s meeting, the 67^th meeting in a series between the two teams dating back to the 1914 season, will mark a rematch of last year’s lone win for the Boll Weevils football team. Last year, the two teams locked horns in a high-impact game that saw the Boll Weevils win 27-6, and turn in its best defensive performance since shutting out Oklahoma Panhandle State in the 2001 season.

Saturday, the Boll Weevils will square off against a more talented and certainly more explosive Ouachita Baptist team than it saw last year. After trailing Division III East Texas Baptist for most of last week’s game, Ouachita Baptist’s offense caught fire late in the game to turn a 19-17 deficit into a lopsided 46-19 victory.

The Tigers have turned over its primary quarterbacking duties to Lance Parker, the grandson of UAM Hall of Famer Jimmy “Red” Parker. The junior transfer from Vanderbilt has provided steady leadership to an OBU offense that is averaging 444 yards and 37.5 points per game this season.

“Last year they had kind of a dual-quarterback system,” said Mathews. “I think that now that Parker has the ball he’s run with it and he’s done a fabulous job. If you go back and look at their last four games last season, they scored a lot of points.”

Joining Parker in the backfield are a pair of high-impact backs in Willie Hopson and K.J. Johnson. Hopson and Johnson are combining for over 170 rushing yards per game this season, while Hopson has also had his share of success catching passes as well, averaging 33 yards per game.

Parker’s go-to receiver thus far has been junior Julius Pruitt. After catching 18 passes for 299 yards with three touchdowns as a sophomore, Pruitt has hauled in 14 catches for 199 yards and three touchdowns in just the first two games of the season, averaging 99.5 receiving yards per contest.

“They have really gone to more of a passing attack,” said Mathews. “They’ve got some big receivers. Coach Knight has gone to a bigger, tougher type of receiver. They like a shorter passing game but they definitely can go deep.”

Making all this possible is an offensive line that Mathews ranks among the top in the Gulf South Conference.

“Ouachita’s offensive line is one of the better offensive lines in the league,” said Mathews. “They play with great tenacity, a great amount of hustle and effort. They do some things scheme-wise that you look at and wonder how they do it all. They do zone, man schemes, cross traffic, you name it. If you coach offensive line there’s not enough time in the day to teach all the things they can do. I have a lot of respect for what they’ve been able to do.”

“They’re definitely a little better on offense right now than they are on defense,” continued Mathews, “but they’re improving defensively too. This is not the same team we saw last year.”

UAM will hope to stop the turnovers that have plagued the team over its first two games in their conference opener.

“We have been able to move the ball and get yards,” said Mathews. “But we have too many giveaways.”

The Weevils will once again be without the services of tailback John L. Williams. After a tremendous game against Southern Arkansas to open the season, Williams was sidelined due to an injury and is not expected to play against Ouachita Baptist. Still, the Weevils are encouraged by the lack of overall injuries after the Sam Houston State game. “When we came back from Sam Houston last year, we were really banged up,” said Mathews. “That’s just not the case this year.”

Despite the expected absence of Williams from this week’s game, Mathews is confident in the running backs that will take to the field this week.

“Johnny Polite had a great game for us this week,” said Mathews, “and Delvin (Shipp) just went out there and did what he does.”

Both Polite and Shipp will need to be in top form this weekend against Ouachita Baptist.

“We’re going up against a dog-gone good football team,” said Mathews. “They are a very talented group. We’re going to work hard this week and this Saturday we’ll be ready.”

Kickoff from A.U. Williams Field in Arkadelphia is set for 7 p.m. Saturday. The game will be broadcast live on KHBM-FM 93.7 in Monticello, and simulcast online at www.uamsports.com.